adventures to embark on.

This summer I'm pretty consumed with classes and such, so I don't really get to go on many far away adventures; however, I am getting to go to Charlottesville, Virginia to visit my brother, which I am pretty excited about.

Charlottesville, Virginia 

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Such a beautiful place! I do wish SIU's campus was as gorgeous as UVA's. 

While I don't get to travel much, or, really at all this summer, I hope to do so at some point in my lifetime. (Sooner rather than later, I hope!) Here's a list of my 5 places I would love to go (...in no particular order. I would feel really lucky and excited to get to go to any of them, really!)

1. The Swiss Alps

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Oh, my. I want to stay in a hut in the mountains. 

2. Barcelona, Spain

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This looks romantic and fun.

3. The Grand Canyon

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I just want to stay at this place for awhile. So much beauty. 

4.  Salvation Mountain in Niland, California

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I've been wanting to explore California for awhile, and this just looks like a really neat place. 

5. South Korea

(of course!)

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My heart gets really excited when thinking about Korea and its people! 

I feel like I'll be completely in awe of God and His creations when I explore these places. You know, "nature is God's first missionary." 

Where are some places you would like to adventure to? : ) 

my sweet momma : mother's day 2013

For Mother's Day, I got up extra early before church to fix my momma breakfast in bed. I ended up making strawberry & Nutella crepes topped with whipped cream and powdered sugar. My, my, my... it was delicious! This was my first time ever making crepes, but they turned out great! They're so easy and very delicious. I most definitely recommend them. :) It was such a sweet morning!

After church, my dad fixed a late lunch for all of us and the rest of my family. I love them all to pieces! Because my dad's birthday is tomorrow, we celebrated that, too! 

good times. 

crepes... yum.

<3

yum.

daddy-o makin' a wish! 

To my sweet momma:
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! You are such a beautiful lady - inside and out. I know many people would agree with me on that, too! You work so, so hard every single day - both at home and work! I don't think I've ever seen you sit still for more than 10 seconds straight. You always run away from laziness and are never idle because you always try to make the best use of your time. You inspire me in so many different ways. You are the best hostess ever, and I hope I can host nice little parties and get-togethers just like you some day. You've got a loving heart that has given me many memories that I'll always remember. Thank you for always loving me, instilling in my a heart and love for Christ,  and for always putting family first. You do so many things for me all of the time, and I really am thankful for you. I know I can be mean or a little grouchy, but thank you for always loving me despite my wrongdoings.
LOVE YOU, MAMACITA!
You're the best ever.

beauty.

I really like life a whole lot, both the good parts and the bad. It's the end of the school year and even though it's a sad thing, I wanna think about all of the good things that I've experienced this year... which, I definitely think it's been a rather good year collectively. I love SIU, Carbondale, my classes, the people I've met, everything. 

I really think I've learned to appreciate and find the beauty in every single thing, good or bad, big or small. I find myself looking at everything around me and smiling so, so big because of the part it plays in this big, huge, world. My mind is oftentimes blown by the things that God has created purely for beauty and as I like to think, to make us smile. 

Of course I had to snap a photo of the pretty walk around campus lake with my gal pal.

It also made me think about other things that are beautiful to me...

afternoon walks with my best gal pal

always God's plan, never a coincidence

rainy days that allow me to wear rain boots

warm days that allow me to wear sundresses

sundays with nick. 

people who are really good at what they do, but still down to earth and humble

days and nights spent with family 

my grandma's boyfriend who is battling (and conquering) cancer and still continues to be his silly, goofy self

music

handwritten things

letters

memories
the library

a love for books

the farmers market 

my pretty conversation partner, Sun-ah

bluegrass and folk music

conversations with my roommate, jordan
people who are real with me

time spent with my two best gal pals, emma & hillary 

trees, flowers, the sky, grass, clouds

people's stories

people's testimonies
root beer
parties

my mom and dad

my sweet grandma who teaches me to be a lady each and every day 

records

my brother and his big brain

hugs

breakfast foods

family get-togethers

love notes

listening and dancing to oldies from the past

alone time with God

seeing elderly couples going on walks together, holding hands, and eating ice cream cones.

seeing my best friends in love

adventures!!
Carbondale

different cultures

reconnecting with old friends

engagements

milkshakes, or anything of the ice cream variety

old photos

late night conversations on life 

dairy queen

meeting new people and hearing all about their life stories 

mutual smiles

phone calls

the ability to love

the existence of God

and the fact that He will never give up on me

and He won't on you, either.

Attempting to put gratitude into words, oh my.

My, my, my! What a wonderful week! I'm 20!

My heart is so happy!

I started off the week by turning in one of the biggest projects of the semester, thank goodness! I was so, so relieved. I went on my weekly walk around campus lake with my best gal pal (who also ended up getting engaged tonight. AH!) On Wednesday, I got a summer job. (I have been wanting a job for the longest time! So, thank good Lord.) On Thursday after night class, my sweet elementary ed pals surprised me with a little birthday get-together. I'm so thankful for them! It means more to me then they will ever know. Without a doubt, this is the most meaningful, nice, thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me. I met with my sweet conversation partner, Sun-ah, and she shared with me her love story. If you want your cheeks to hurt from smiling a lot, ask someone to tell you their love story. Every week I feel thankful for this girl and everything she teaches me! I spent my Friday night with my best ladies for my birthday. On this very night, I also got rejected for ownership of a goldfish. My heart broke into a million pieces because of this occurrence, but, I soon forgot about it and all was well once again. Saturday, my birthday, my momma woke me up with blueberry birthday scones and a glass of orange juice. Like always, my grandma called me and sang happy birthday to me. I then spent the day celebrating Record Store Day with one of the best human beings. Just so you all know, I had the best time.

THEN,
I went to my best friend's engagement party. Except, she didn't know it was her engagement party. She thought it was a birthday party for her boyfriend. She was completely surprised. It was the best. I love love. I love her. YAY.

I then spent the evening with my family. We had dinner, and it was the best. I love their company and the food they make.

I had the best birthday week.

My heart just feels so happy and full of joy. Literally, it's overflowing with joy.  I'm just feeling so, so thankful for every single person and opportunity God has placed in my life so far, new and old! I am just feeling really blessed.  I am completely undeserving of all of this, yet because God is such a nice fella and loves me, he has placed all of this in my life!

I like Him a lot.

Every single person I've come into contact with, I feel so happy and glad to know them. I think it's really hard to express how happy and thankful I feel for every single person.  It's always really nice to know that we aren't on Earth alone, but that we have each other. I wish that I could just send out one big, giant hug and kiss on the cheek to every single person... and say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Found this on our weekly walk around Campus Lake. 

Loved spending my Friday with my gal pals. 

Emma wrapped my present in Christmas wrapping paper, which was perfect because I love Christmas. 

They're engaged! 

10 out of 10 people die.

the big 'ole beautiful, blue sky

I was listening to the radio on my drive to Harrisburg yesterday, and I heard this:

"10 out of 10 people die."

(Well, duh, Kellyn.)

While this might be trivial and kindof silly, it is so relevant.

It kindof made me realize how small we are and how temporary life is. It made me really think... I should be completely fearless to go out there and get things done! I want to put forth all of the effort I have inside of me to do everything to the best of my ability! I want to try new things. Weird things. Hard things! I want to meet all of the human beings I can possibly meet! I need to live in every moment of every second of every minute of every hour of every day, because it's all too important! I want to take every learning opportunity that comes my way and get every single thing I possibly can out of it - failure or success, and see them as opportunities to learn. 

There is so much to see, so much to learn and so much to do in this world, both at home and outside of home that life should never, ever, ever be boring! We all have somethin' going for us, right? 

I want to make the most of the littlest things. I want to appreciate it all. 

Lately I've been so consumed with school projects, homework, and things of the like that I haven't truly been appreciating life. Oftentimes, I am so consumed by schoolwork, traveling from Carbondale to Harrisburg to Carbondale, and making time for family and friends, I'm not really truly appreciating the time being spent doing these things. 

This week, I'll appreciate the little things:

Perhaps it might be a not-so-good grade, the rainy days to come, a silly question asked by a student, and Cuties. (Both the hybrid fruit and literal humans that are cute.) 

I have the desire to learn everything I possibly can in this lifetime, and sometimes it gets covered up by the busyness of life. 

So here's to this week and appreciating every little thing! 

Thursdays are my favorite days.

hi! 

Today was the sweetest day. This semester,  I spend my Thursdays in a 5th grade elementary classroom. It has been the best experience, and each time I leave the classroom on Thursday, I am just overwhelmed with joy & thankfulness & happiness in general.  Even though school can sometimes be overwhelming, being there really reminds me why I want to become a teacher. 

Today, while I was in the 5th grade, I thought about life a lot and the different stages of it. There's a beauty in every stage that we all ought to embrace, whether you're young or old, but there's something about the rawness, innocence, honesty and purity of being a kid that is such gold. I sat there today watching them create spaceships and people out of paper, markers, and tape. I love that they can do that, have fun without toys (or, I guess electronics these days) and make what they can with what they have. I can see that they let their imaginations go and come up with all kinds of things that they put a lot of thought into.  

There really is something so incredible about the heart and mind of a child. Their writings, drawings, and imagination. Everything about them is so inspiring! There is really a beauty to imagination, laughing at the littlest things that aren't funny to adults, coloring outside the lines, words that are spelled almost incorrectly, and other things adults don't understand but they do anyways. There's so much beauty in the heart and mind of a child that makes them all gold. Sure, they can get mean and disobedient, but...

they sure do inspire me.